Total Float

Early Start (ES) Activity Early Finish (EF)

Late Start (LS) Duration Late Finish (LF)
Free Float
 1.1.1 NAOE 3215: Ship and Offshore Production Technology
3.00 Credit, 3 hrs. /wk.
Objectives:
The objective of this course is to prepare the students with the basic knowledge and exposure on construction, repair and conversion process of ship
& offshore structures.

Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
 draw the production/construction flow Chart for ship and offshore structure and explain individual process involved
 determine the factors for selecting location and layout of shipyard
 list down facilities of a modern Ship and offshore construction yard
 work in group effectively during class discussion and in solving some of the class assignment given
 state down clearly the important aspects of ship and offshore construction, repair and conversion process

Contents:
Ship and offshore structures construction process; Construction process flow chart; Surface
preparation and cutting process; Welding Process; Checking and inspection of welding quality;
Nondestructive testing (NDT); Sub and block assembly process; Pre-outfitting, Erection and
launching, transporting and upsetting.
Selection of suitable location for ship and offshore construction; Yard layout and production flow;
Workshops and its facilities; Calculation of yard area and machinery utilization.
Introduction to production systems and its importance; Production planning and control systems;
Critical path analysis and project scheduling; Introduction to quality control systems; Computer
integrated manufacturing in shipyards; Survey, repair & conversion process of ship and offshore
structure.
A project is defined as a combination of interrelated activities all of which must be
executed in a certain order to achieve a set goal. In a large and complex project
involving a number of interrelated activities requiring men, machines and material,
it is impossible for the management to make and execute an optimum schedule
just by intuition, based on organizational capabilities and work experience. A
systematic scientific has become a necessity. So, a number of methods applying
network scheduling techniques have been developed. PERT and CPM are two of
the many network techniques which are widely used for planning, scheduling and
controlling large, complex projects.
Phases of Project Management

The three main managerial functions for any project are:

1. Planning 2. Scheduling 3. Control.

Planning: This phase involves listing of tasks or jobs (work breakdown structure or (WBS))
that must be performed to complete a project under consideration. In this phase, men,
machines and material required for the project in addition to the estimates of costs and
duration of various activities of the project are also determined.

Scheduling: This phase involves the laying out of actual activities of the projects in a logical
sequence of time in which they have to be performed. Also, start and finish times for each
activity, critical path on which activities require special attention and slack (or) float for the
non-critical paths are determined.
Control: This consists of reviewing the progress of the project and whether the actual
performance is according to the planned schedule and finding the reasons for the difference,
if any, between the schedule and the performance. The basic aspect of control is to analyze
and correct this difference by taking remedial action wherever possible.
Network: An arrow diagram denoting all the activities of a project taking into account the
technological sequence of the activities is called a project network. It is represented by
activities on an arrow diagram or simply an arrow diagram.
 Critical Path Method

Early Start Early Finish

(ES) Duration (EF)

Activity Name

Late Start Late Finish

(LS) Float (LF)
Early Early
Start Duration Finish
(ES) (EF)

Activity Name

Late Late
Start Float Finish
(LS) (LF)
 +

-
Simple Example: Job List
 Two Parts X and Y: Manufacture and Assembly
Job # Description Immediate Time
Predecessors [min]
A Start 0
B Get materials for X A 10
C Get materials for Y A 20
D Turn X on lathe B,C 30
E Turn Y on lathe B,C 20
F Polish Y E 40
G Assemble X and Y D,F 20
H Finish G 0

- ESD.36 SPM 17
+

-
Project Graph
 Each job is drawn on a graph as a circle*
 Connect each job with immediate predecessor(s) –
unidirectional arrows “”
 Jobs with no predecessor connect to “Start”
 Jobs with no successors connect to “Finish”
 “Start” and “Finish” are pseudo-jobs of length 0
 A finite number of “arrow paths” from “Start” to
“Finish” will be the result
 Total time of each path is the sum of job times
 Path with the longest total time  “critical path”
 There can be multiple critical paths  minimum time to
complete project

* or other symbol, see before

- ESD.36 SPM 18
 +

-
Project Graph
C,20 E,20 F,40
critical path

A,0 G,20 H,0

Start Finish

B,10 D,30

4 unique paths: A,C,E,F,G,H; A,C,D,G,H; A,B,D,G,H; A,B,E,F,G,H

100 70 60 90
- ESD.36 SPM 19
+

-
Critical Path
 CP is the “bottleneck route”
 Shortening or lengthening tasks on the critical path
directly affects project finish
 Duration of “non-critical” tasks is irrelevant
 “Crashing” all jobs is ineffective, focus on the few % of
jobs that are on the CP
 “Crashing” tasks can shift the CP to a different task
 Shortening tasks – technical and economical challenge
 How can it be done?
 Previously non-critical tasks can become critical
 Lengthening of non-critical tasks can also shift the
critical path (see HW1).

- ESD.36 SPM 20
+

-
Discussion Point 2

 What is the usefulness of knowing the

CP in a project?
 Tells which task to shorten to finish project
earlier.
 Others …?

- ESD.36 SPM 21
 +

-
Critical Path Algorithm
 For large projects there are many paths
 Need a algorithm to identify the CP efficiently
 Develop information about each task in context of the
overall project
 Times
 Start time (S)
 For each job: Earliest Start (ES)
 Earliest start time of a job if all its predecessors start at ES
 Job duration: t
 Earliest Finish (EF)=(ES)+t
 Finish time (F) – earliest finish time of the overall project
 Show algorithm using project graph

- ESD.36 SPM 22
+

-
CP Algorithm
1. Mark the value of S to left and right of Start
2. Consider any new unmarked job, all of whose
predecessors have been marked. Mark to the
left of the new job the largest number to the
right of its immediate predecessors: (ES)
3. Add to ES the job time t and mark result to
the right (EF)
4. Stop when Finish has been reached

- ESD.36 SPM 23
 +

-
CP Algorithm - Graphical

critical path
C,20 E,20 F,40
0 20 20 40 40 80
Finish

S=0 A,0 0 G,20 H,0

80 100 100 F=100
Start

0 B,10 10 20 D,30 50

- ESD.36 SPM 24
+

-
Concept Question 2

Possible
A project starts with (A,5). Task (B,10)
can start after A is completed. This is Answers
also true for task (E,5). Task (C,8) 20
depends only on (B,10), while task (F,10)
22
depends on both (B,10) and (E,5). Task
(D,5) is the last task in the project and it 25
can start once (C,8) and (F,10) have 27
been finished.
30

The Earliest Finish (EF) time for the 35

whole project is:
40

- ESD.36 SPM 25
+

-
Latest Start and Finish Times
 Set target finish time for project: T >= F
 Usually target is a specific calendar date,
e.g. October 1, 2007
 When is the latest date the project can be
started?
 Late Finish (LF) - latest time a job can be
finished, without delaying the project
beyond its target time (T)
 Late Start: LS = LF-t
- ESD.36 SPM 26
+

-
Determine LF and LS
 Work from the end of the project: T
1. Mark value of T to left and right of Finish
2. Consider any new unmarked job, all of
whose successors have been marked - mark
to the right the smallest LS time marked to
the left of any of its immediate successors
3. Subtract from this number, LF, the job time t
and mark result to the left of the job: LS
4. Continue upstream until Start has been
reached, then stop
- ESD.36 SPM 27
 +

-
LS and LF : Project Graph
0 20 20 40 40 80
0 20 20 40 40 80

C,20 E,20 F,40

Finish

S=0 A,0 G,20 H,0

Start 80 100 100 100

80 100 100 100
0 0
0 0 0 B,10 10 D,30
Legend
0 10 20 50 early ES EF
10 20 50 80 late LS LF

- ESD.36 SPM 28
 +

-
Slack
 Some tasks have ES=LS --> no slack
 Total Slack of a task TS=LS-ES
 Maximum amount of time a task may be delayed
beyond its early start without delaying project
completion
 Slack time is precious … managerial freedom, don’t
squander it unnecessarily
 e.g. resource, work load smoothing
 When T=F then all critical tasks have TS=0
 At least one path from Start->Finish with critical jobs
only
 When T>F, then all critical jobs have TS=T-F
- ESD.36 SPM 29
 +

-
Project Graph - Slack
0 20 20 40 40 80
0 20 20 40 40 80

C,20 E,20 F,40

Finish
TS=0 TS=0 TS=0
TS=0 TS=0

S=0 A,0 G,20 H,0

Start 80 100 100 100

TS=10 TS=30 80 100 100 100
0 0
0 0 0 B,10 10 D,30
Legend
0 10 20 50 early ES EF
10 20 50 80 late LS LF
- ESD.36 SPM 30
+

-
Task Times Detail - Task i
ES(i) LS(i) EF(i) LF(i)
Duration t(i)

Total Slack Duration t(i)

j is the immediate
TS(i) successor of i with
the smallest ES
FS(i) ES(j) j>i
Free Slack
 Free Slack (FS) is the amount a job can be
delayed without delaying the Early Start (ES)
of any other job.
FS<=TS always
- ESD.36 SPM 31
+

-
Main CPM Errors
 Estimated job times are wrong
 Predecessor relationships may contain cycles  “cycle
error”
 List of prerequisites contains more than the immediate
predecessors, e.g. ab, bc and a,bc
 Overlooked some predecessor relationships
 Some predecessor relationships may be listed that are
spurious
 and …. Some tasks/jobs may be missing !!!

- ESD.36 SPM 32
See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289361151

A critical path method approach to a green platform supply vessel hull

construction

Article in The International Journal of Industrial Engineering: Theory, Applications and Practice · January 2013

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International Journal of Industrial Engineering, 20(7-8), 515-525, 2013

A CRITICAL PATH METHOD APPROACH TO A GREEN PLATFORM

SUPPLY VESSEL HULL CONSTRUCTION
Eda TURANa, Mesut GÜNERb
a
Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, 34349 Besiktas, Istanbul,
Turkey
E-mail: [email protected] Phone: +902123833156 Fax: +902122364165
b
Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Yildiz Technical University, 34349 Besiktas, Istanbul,
Turkey
E-mail: [email protected] Phone: +902123832859 Fax: +902122364165

This study generates a critical path method approach for the first Green Platform Supply Vessel hull constructed in
Turkey. The vessel was constructed and partly outfitted in a Turkish Shipyard and delivered to Norway. The project
management of the vessel was conducted utilizing Critical Path Method (CPM) and the critical paths during
construction and partly outfitting period of this sophisticated vessel were presented. Additionally, the precautions in
order to prevent the delay of the project were discussed.

Keywords: Project Management, Production, Critical Path Method (CPM), Green Vessel, Platform Supply Vessel.

1. INTRODUCTION
A Platform Supply Vessel (PSV) carries various types of cargoes such as chemicals, water, diesel oil, fuel oil, mud,
brine oil etc. between the platforms and ports. She supplies the requirements of the platforms during operations and
brings the wastes to the port.
Platform supply vessels are separated into three groups as small-sized, medium-sized and large-sized platform supply
vessels according to their deadweight tonnages. The platform supply vessels with a capacity less than 1500 DWT are
named as small-sized, between 1500 DWT – 4000 DWT are medium-sized and more than 4000 DWT are large-sized
platform supply vessels.
The vessel in this paper is a large-sized platform supply vessel with her 5500 DWT capacity. This type of construction
is the first application in the Turkish Shipyards. The vessel is the first and biggest merchant ship using a fuel cell to
produce power on board. The length of the vessel is 92,2 meters and the beam is 21 meters. After completion of the hull
construction and partly outfitting in a Turkish Shipyard, the vessel was delivered to Norway. Remaining works were
completed in a Norwegian Shipyard. The vessel operates in the North Sea.
The vessel uses not only heavy oil or diesel but also liquefied natural gas engines and fuel cell. This is the difference
of the vessel from other merchant vessels. SOx, NOx and CO2 emissions are reduced with the combination of gas
engines and the fuel cell on board.
The construction of Platform Supply Vessels is more difficult and complicated than the vessels that the Turkish
Shipyards are experienced in construction of vessels such as chemical carriers and cargo vessels. The length of these
vessels are shorter than conventional cargo vessels, however since the steel weights are more than conventional cargo
vessels, there is a high demand to build these vessels from the shipyards. Nowadays, these vessels also become the
mostly demanded vessels for construction subject to the above reasons.
Ship production is a project type production. Therefore project management is a vital factor in the construction of a
vessel. The most common planning type in Turkish Shipyards is block planning. In this planning approach, the ship is
divided into various sizes of blocks before the construction commences. Firstly, blocks are constructed separately and
they are erected on the slipway after completion (Odabasi, 1996). Since the block weights are determined according to
crane capacities of the shipyards, the block weights may vary from one shipyard to another.
There are various processes during a shipbuilding stage. In order to complete the ship construction profitably on time,
information, material, workmanship and workflows should be managed under control, which is appropriate to the
shipyard (Turan, 2008).
The material flow is also significant for the delivery of the vessels on time. Required materials should be present at
the needed time and location. The delays on material supplies may slow down the production or even stop it (Acar,
1999).
In the literature, Yang and Chen (2000), performed a study in order to determine the critical path in an activity network.
Lu et al. (2008), deals with resource constrained critical path analysis for construction area. Duan and Liao (2010),
evaluated improved ant colony optimization for determining project critical paths. Guerriero and Talarico (2010),
ISSN 1943-670X  INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
 Green Platform Supply Well Hull Construction

studied on a solution approach to find the critical path in a time constrained activity network. Chen et al. (1997), also
mentioned a critical path in an activity network with time constraints. Levner and Kats (1998), evaluated a parametric
critical path problem in order to find critical paths in a robotic cell. It is seen that Critical Path Method (CPM) approach
for a real green platform supply vessel project is unique in the shipbuilding industry. The delivery of the vessels on time
and estimation of delivery time in advance are the significant processes in shipbuilding industry. In case of late delivery
of the vessel, the shipyards pay penalties to the Owner in accordance with the contract items. Therefore, in order to
determine the total project period of the vessels and decrease the losses of the shipyards, a CPM approach is applied to a
complex vessel in this study. The approach in this study also leads to identify the critical path of a platform supply
vessel in addition to determination of total project time.

2. METHODOLOGY
CPM method is a network method for project management and models the activities as a network. The method was
developed in 1956/1957’s by Du Pont de Nemours & Co. in the USA for repair and maintenance stages in the chemical
industry.
The benefits of CPM are as follows (Albayrak, 2001):
 Making the network diagram of the project
 Determination of the critical path and activities
 Showing the precedence relations between activities
 Taking precautions for the critical activities

The steps of CPM are as follows (Albayrak, 2001):

 Identification of the activities
 Determination of the sequence of the activities
 Drawing a network diagram
 Estimating the completion time for each activity
 Identifying the critical path
 Calculation of the total project period
The critical path is identified by determining the following four parameters for each activity (Albayrak, 2001):
 ES - earliest start time: the earliest time at which the activity can start and its precedent activities must be
completed first.
 EF – earliest finish time: equal to the earliest start time of the activity plus the time required to complete the
activity.
 LF – latest finish time: the latest time at which the activity can be completed without delaying the project.
 LS – latest start time: equal to the latest finish time of the activity minus the time required to complete the activity.
There are some terms used in CPM method. Path is the connection between the activities done with arrows (Albayrak,
2001). The total project period is calculated by adding the activity durations on the critical path. Critical path is the
longest way in the network. In case of any delay on the critical path, the total project time increases directly. Therefore
the precautions should be taken in order to prevent these delays. Any delay of an activity that is not on the critical path
may not affect the total project time. In this context, the delay margin of an activity on the critical path is zero. However
any other activity that is not on the critical path may have some delay margin. The maximum delay range that does not
affect the total project time is named as slack or total float (Albayrak, 2001). The activities on the critical path do not
have a slack float and their ES is equal to LS and EF is also equal to LF. In CPM network plan, double lines show the
critical path, and single lines show the non-critical paths.
Critical path is calculated by two techniques, namely, forward pass and backward pass calculation techniques.

2.1 Forward Pass Calculation Technique

Forward Pass Calculation Technique is based on finding the earliest starting times of the activities starting from the
initial activity to the last activity. There are two assumptions regarding the earliest starting times of the activities.
Initially, projects start earliest at zero point and then one activity starts just after completion of the preceding activity
(Albayrak, 2001).
The early start time of the project is assumed as zero as follows:
ES = 0 (1)
By adding the activity times to the early starts of the preceding activities, early starts of other activities can be calculated
(Efil, 2002).
516
Turan and Guner

When we show the processing time as “S”, early start time is calculated as follows (Albayrak, 2001):
ESj= maxi→j (ESi+S) (2)
Provided that multi activities affect the formation of one event, the longest time period is considered (Albayrak, 2001).

2.2 Backward Pass Calculation Technique

Backward Pass Calculation Technique is based on finding the late start times of the activities in the project starting from
the last activity to the earliest activity. The latest finish time of the activities are calculated with this technique. Initially,
GF is assumed to be equal to ES for the last activity of the project as follows (Albayrak, 2001):
GF = ES
(3)
The late finish times of the activities are calculated subtracting the processing time from the late finish time of each
event. When we show the processing time with “S”, late finish time of all activities is calculated as follows (Albayrak,
2001):
GFi= mini→j (GFj-S) (4)
Provided that multi activities affect the formation of one activity, the shortest time period is considered (Albayrak,
2001).

3. REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE: CONSTRUCTION OF A GREEN PLATFORM SUPPLY

VESSEL
Platform supply vessels are more sophisticated and complex vessels than other type of merchant vessels. These vessels
have several tanks and excessive piping work in these tanks. The construction rate of these vessels is 30% slower than
other kinds of merchant vessels.
The Platform Supply Vessels are classified according to their accommodation area locations. Their accommodation area
can be located either at the aft part of the vessel or at the bow area. The PSV in this study was constructed in a Turkish
Shipyard and therefore the case study is a real-life example. The PSV’s accommodation area is at the aft area. In this
context, the majority of the block weight is at the aft of the vessel. The Block Arrangement Plan of the PSV is shown in
Figure 1.

Figure 1. Block Arrangement Plan of the Platform Supply Vessel

Before application of CPM to a Green Platform Supply Vessel Hull, some assumptions were taken into considerations
that are as follows (Turan, 2008, Turan, 2010):
 The structural parts of each block were cut and they were ready for manufacturing. There was no delay regarding
material procurement.
 All piping works on the vessel started at the same time as the steel works of the blocks and were completed latest in
517
 Green Platform Supply Well Hull Construction

one week after completion of the block manufacturing.

 The outfitting works on the blocks were completed at the same time as the steel works of the blocks. After
completion of the works, the surveyor checked the vessel in order to control and approve the workmanship. This
survey was done one day after completion of the works.
 The block erections on slipway were done after completion of the pressure tests and piping works. Pressure tests
were assumed to be completed in three days.
 Blocks were painted in one week period after completion of the pressure tests and piping works.
 Block erection took one week period for each block.
 Tests of the piping systems were done on slipway in two weeks period.
 Retouch paint was done on shell in order to correct the burnings due to the welding during block erections in one
week period. The vessel was launched after completion of the retouch paint.
 Working days were assumed as six days per week, excluding only Sundays.
 All Owner supply equipments were delivered to the shipyard in accordance with the construction schedule and
there was no delay on equipment procurements.
 Pressure tests of the tanks were done in three days after completion of the steel works in blocks.
 Painting started just after pressure tank tests’ completion. Painting time was one week for each block of the vessel.
Grit blasting was done before painting in order to detect the deficiencies and then grinding was done on the block.
A grit blasting was done after grinding again and a block was finally painted. Blocks were erected on slipway after
completion of painting.

3.1 Block Weights & Cutting Periods

The cutting periods of the blocks vary subject to the capacity of the shipyard and block sizes. Cutting times and weights
of each block in the shipyard are given in Table 1 (Turan, 2008).

Table 1. Weights and Cutting Periods of the Blocks

Block Cutting
Block
Weight Periods
Number
(tons) (days)
101 100 3
ENGINE
ROOM
AFT CASTLE AND AREA
AND
AFT

111 98 3
102 123 3
112 134 3
301 97.5 3
ACCOMMODATIO

302 95.3 3
303 10.4 1
N AREA

313 13.3 1
401 111.05 3
501 95.984 3
601 39.02 1
701 16.33 1
103 58 2
131 59 2
BOTTOM
DOUBLE

104 59 2
105 61 2
151 55 2
106 45 2
107 27 1
108 101.1 3
AREA
FORE

109 41.57 2
307 20.53 1
317 20.63 1

518
Turan and Guner

308 47.6 2
309 49.08 2
310 23.72 1
201 61.732 3
211 69.175 3

SIDE BLOCKS AND MAIN DECK BLOCKS

232 63 3
231 64 3
202 67 3
212 67 3
203 68 3
213 65 3
252 62 3
251 61.5 3
204 75.437 3
214 80.216 3
205 69.051 3
215 70.12 3
304 14 1
314 14 1
305 14 1
315 14 1
306 13 1
316 13 1

3.2 Determination Of Precedencies, Activity Periods And Application Of CPM To PSV

The Platform Supply Vessel was classified into three parts as aft area, fore area and double bottom area blocks. Initially,
all activities during construction period of the vessel were identified. Secondly, their precedencies and durations of the
activities were determined. After determination of the required data, network diagram of each part of the vessel was
drawn and critical paths for three areas were calculated. Finally, the critical path of the project and total project period
was calculated subject to the network diagrams.

3.2.1 CPM of Fore Area Blocks

According to the block plan of the vessel in Fig. 1, blocks 108, 109, 307, 317, 308, 309 and 310 are classified as fore
area blocks. The completion times of the activities and precedence relationships are given in Table 2.

Table 2. Activity List of Fore Area Blocks (Turan, 2008).

FORE AREA BLOCKS

Previous
Activities Block Number Work Definition Period (days)
Activity
A Block 108 Prefabrication ------------- 23
B Block 108 Assembly A 48
C Block 108 Survey Control B 1
D Block 108 Piping Works B 7
E Block 108 Painting C, D 7
F Block 108 Slipway Erection E 7
G Block 109 Prefabrication A 23
H Block 109 Assembly G 32
I Block 109 Survey Control H 1
J Block 109 Piping Works H 7
K Block 109 Painting I, J 7
L Block 109 Slipway Erection K 7
M Blocks 307-317 Prefabrication ------------- 22
N Blocks 307-317 Assembly M 27
519
 Green Platform Supply Well Hull Construction

O Blocks 307-317 Survey Control N 1

P Blocks 307-317 Piping Works N 7
R Blocks 307-317 Painting O, P 7
S Blocks 307-317 Slipway Erection R 7
T Block 308 Prefabrication A 32
U Block 308 Assembly T 32
V Block 308 Survey Control U 1
Y Block 308 Piping Works U 7
Z Block 308 Painting V, Y 7
AA Block 308 Slipway Erection Z 7
BB Block 309 Prefabrication A 29
CC Block 309 Assembly BB 47
DD Block 309 Survey Control CC 1
EE Block 309 Piping Works CC 7
FF Block 309 Painting DD, EE 7
GG Block 309 Slipway Erection FF 7
HH Block 310 Prefabrication BB 22
II Block 310 Assembly HH 28
JJ Block 310 Survey Control II 1
KK Block 310 Piping Works II 7
LL Block 310 Painting JJ, KK 7
MM Block 310 Slipway Erection LL 7
AJ All blocks Paint retouch on slipway F, L, S, AA, GG, MM 7
AK All blocks Pipe tests on slipway F, L, S, AA, GG, MM 15
AL All blocks Launching AJ, AK 1

3.2.2 CPM of Double Bottom, Side, Main Deck Blocks

According to the block arrangement plan of the vessel in Fig. 1, blocks 103,131, 104, 105, 151, 106, 107, 201, 211, 232,
231, 212, 202, 203, 213, 252, 251, 204, 214, 205, 215, 304, 314, 305, 315, 306 and 316 are classified as double bottom,
side, main deck blocks. The completion times of the activities and precedence relationships are given in Table 3.

Table 3. Activity List of Double Bottom, Side, Main Deck Blocks (Turan, 2008).

DOUBLE BOTTOM, SIDE, MAIN DECK BLOCKS

Previous Period
Activities Block Number Work Definition
Activity (days)
A Blocks 103-131 Prefabrication ------------- 10
B Blocks 103-131 Assembly A 37
C Blocks 103-131 Survey Control B 1
D Blocks 103-131 Piping Works B 7
E Blocks 103-131 Painting C, D 7
F Blocks 103-131 Slipway Erection E 7
G Blocks 104-105-151 Prefabrication ------------- 10
H Blocks 104-105-151 Assembly G 44
I Blocks 104-105-151 Survey Control H 1
J Blocks 104-105-151 Piping Works H 7
K Blocks 104-105-151 Painting I,J 7
L Blocks 104-105-151 Slipway Erection K 7
M Blocks 106-107 Prefabrication G, A 10
N Blocks 106-107 Assembly M 33
O Blocks 106-107 Survey Control N 1
P Blocks 106-107 Piping Works N 7
R Blocks 106-107 Painting O, P 7
S Blocks 106-107 Slipway Erection R 7
T Blocks 201-211-232-231- Prefabrication A, G 19
520
Turan and Guner

212-202-203-213
U Blocks 201-211-232-231- 212-202-203-213 Assembly T 44
V Blocks 201-211-232-231- 212-202-203-213 Survey Control U 1
Y Blocks 201-211-232-231- 212-202-203-213 Piping Works U 7
Z Blocks 201-211-232-231- 212-202-203-213 Painting V, Y 7
AA Blocks 201-211-232-231- 212-202-203-213 Slipway Erection Z 7
BB Blocks 252-251-204-214- 205-215 Prefabrication T 36
CC Blocks 252-251-204-214- 205-215 Assembly BB 36
DD Blocks 252-251-204-214- 205-215 Survey Control CC 1
EE Blocks 252-251-204-214- 205-215 Piping Works CC 7
FF Blocks 252-251-204-214- 205-215 Painting DD, EE 7
GG Blocks 252-251-204-214- 205-215 Slipway Erection FF 7
HH Blocks 304-314-305-315- 306-316 Prefabrication T 22
II Blocks 304-314-305-315- 306-316 Assembly HH 28
JJ Blocks 304-314-305-315- 306-316 Survey Control II 1
KK Blocks 304-314-305-315- 306-316 Piping Works II 7
LL Blocks 304-314-305-315- 306-316 Painting JJ, KK 7
MM Blocks 304-314-305-315- 306-316 Slipway Erection LL 7
F, L, S,
AJ All Blocks Paint retouch on slipway AA, 7
GG, MM
F, L, S,
AK All Blocks Pipe tests on slipway AA, 15
GG, MM
AL All Blocks Launching AJ, AK 1

3.2.3 CPM of Aft Area, Engine Room, Aft Castle, Accommodation Area Blocks
According to the block plan of the vessel in Fig. 1, blocks 101,111, 102, 112, 301, 302, 303, 313, 401, 501, 601 and 701
are classified as aft area, engine room, aft castle, accommodation area blocks. The completion times of the activities and
precedence relationships are given in Table 4.

Table 4: Activity List of Aft Area, Engine Room, Aft Castle, Accommodation Area Blocks (Turan, 2008,
Turan,2010).

AFT AREA, ENGINE ROOM, AFT CASTLE, ACCOMMODATION AREA BLOCKS

Period
Activities Block Number Work Definition Previous Activity
(days)
A Blocks 101-111 Prefabrication ------------- 22
B Blocks 101-111 Assembly A 56
C Blocks 101-111 Survey Control B 1
D Blocks 101-111 Piping Works B 7
E Blocks 101-111 Painting C, D 7
F Blocks 101-111 Slipway Erection E 7
G Blocks 102-112 Prefabrication ------------- 14
H Blocks 102-112 Assembly G 58
I Blocks 102-112 Survey Control H 1
J Blocks 102-112 Piping Works H 7
K Blocks 102-112 Painting I, J 7
L Blocks 102-112 Slipway Erection K 7
M Block 301 Prefabrication A 24
N Block 301 Assembly M 40
O Block 301 Survey Control N 1
P Block 301 Piping Works N 7
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R Block 301 Painting O, P 7

S Block 301 Slipway Erection R 7
T Block 302 Prefabrication G 28
U Block 302 Assembly T 27
V Block 302 Survey Control U 1
Y Block 302 Piping Works U 7
Z Block 302 Painting V, Y 7
AA Block 302 Slipway Erection Z 7
BB Blocks 303-313 Prefabrication G 22
CC Blocks 303-313 Assembly BB 33
DD Blocks 303-313 Survey Control CC 1
EE Blocks 303-313 Piping Works CC 7
FF Blocks 303-313 Painting DD, EE 7
GG Blocks 303-313 Slipway Erection FF 7
HH Block 401 Prefabrication T 27
II Block 401 Assembly HH 42
JJ Block 401 Survey Control II 1
KK Block 401 Piping Works II 7
LL Block 401 Painting JJ, KK 7
MM Block 401 Slipway Erection LL 7
NN Block 501 Prefabrication T 32
OO Block 501 Assembly NN 44
PP Block 501 Survey Control OO 1
RR Block 501 Piping Works OO 7
SS Block 501 Painting PP, RR 7
TT Block 501 Slipway Erection SS 7
UU Block 601 Prefabrication CC 28
VV Block 601 Assembly UU 57
YY Block 601 Survey Control VV 1
ZZ Block 601 Piping Works VV 7
AB Block 601 Painting YY, ZZ 7
AC Block 601 Slipway Erection AB 7
AD Block 701 Prefabrication EE 27
AE Block 701 Assembly AD 53
AF Block 701 Survey Control AE 1
AG Block 701 Piping Works AE 7
AH Block 701 Painting AF, AG 7
AI Block 701 Slipway Erection AH 7
Paint retouch S, F, L, MM, AA, TT,
AJ All Blocks 7
on slipway GG, AI, AC
Pipe tests S, F, L, MM, AA, TT,
AK All Blocks 15
on slipway GG, AI, AC
AL All Blocks Launching AJ, AK 1

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

According to the precedence relationships in Table 2, CPM network diagram of fore area blocks is shown in Fig.2. The
critical path for fore area blocks is A-BB-HH-II-KK-LL-MM-AK-AL path with 139 days period (Turan,2008).

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Turan and Guner

Figure 2. CPM Network of Fore Area Blocks

According to the precedence relationships in Table 3, CPM network diagram of double bottom, side, and main deck
blocks is shown in Fig. 3. The critical paths for double bottom, side and main deck blocks are A-T-BB-CC-EE-FF-GG-
AK-AL and G-T-BB-CC-EE-FF-GG-AK-AL paths with 138 days period in Fig. 3 (Turan, 2008). This result expresses
that there may be multi critical paths in a project.

Figure 3. CPM Network of Double Bottom, Side, Main Deck Blocks

According to the precedence relationships in Table 4, CPM network diagram of aft area, engine room, aft castle, and
accommodation area blocks is shown in Fig.4. The critical path for aft area, aft castle, engine room, and accommodation
area blocks is G-BB-CC-EE-AD-AG-AE-AH-AI-AK-AL in Fig. 4. This path is the longest path with 193 days period
and therefore it is also the critical path of the total project (Turan, 2008, Turan, 2010). In case of any delay on the
activities of this path, the total project period will also be delayed in the same amount.

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Figure 4. CPM Network of Aft Area, Engine Room, Aft Castle and Accommodation Area Blocks

The paper indicates that high importance should be given to the blocks on the critical path in the production period in
order not to increase the costs and therefore not to decrease the profit of the vessel. The critical area is aft area
construction in this study. The materials and equipments of these blocks should also be procured in due time subject to
the construction schedule of the vessel.
Labor force is also a vital factor for the delivery of the vessel on the contract date. Proper workman capacity should be
provided during the construction period and especially the blocks on critical path should be cared intensely.
According to the assumptions and calculations in the study, the vessel should be delivered to the Owner in 193 days.
This period may also be shortened with the improvement of the shipyard capacity and the assumptions. In real case, the
vessel was delivered in 12 months due to some delays during construction period. First reason of late delivery was the
delay on procurement of the Owner supply equipments. Since the delivery of the equipments was Owner’s
responsibility, the shipyard paid no penalty due to late delivery of the vessel. This result shows that the equipments and
materials should be supplied on time in order to complete the vessel in agreed period. Secondly, there were some re-
works on the vessel such as mounting of ballast system pipes to the vessel after three times experience since the
representatives of the Owners did not find the quality as enough due to lack of full penetration in welding joints and
they requested improvements on the fabrication of the pipes. In this case, that delay did not affect the total project
period since these activities were not on the critical path. It should be avoided from re-works during the construction
processes in order not to prolong the construction schedule.
Design of the vessel was done in a Norwegian design company and supplied by the Owner as well. Due to holiday
season in Norway, there were lack of communications with the company and some of the drawings were delivered later
than expected.
Consequently, procurement of equipments and materials, delivery of design drawings on time, proper labor force
management, and quality controls during processes are the key factors in order to achieve on time deliveries in the
shipyards. Contracts of the vessels should also be well-prepared in order to prevent payment of penalties and losses of
the shipyards.
This paper also conducts that CPM can be applied to the construction of marine vehicles and shows the precedence
relations of the blocks. The method is effective since the project team can see the critical paths before commencement
of the project and take some precautions in advance for the critical activities.

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5. CONCLUSIONS
This paper develops a Critical Path approach to a PSV hull construction. Critical Path Method is used as a project
management technique but to the best knowledge of the authors, CPM approach has not been applied to a Green Vessel
in the maritime industry yet. This technique may be used in comprehensive projects and thereby, the delays, cost
increases as well as profit decreases due to the lack of planning may be prevented.
The construction of Platform Supply Vessel is more complex than other types of merchant vessels. In this study, the
majority of the total block weight is at the aft area of the vessel. In some cases, the majority of the block weight may be
seen at fore area of the vessel due to the accommodation area location. CPM is appropriate for both of these types of
vessels. It is also significant that the sequence of each activity can be figured by this method. Any deviation on
processes and production schedule can easily be recognized.
In this paper, CPM is applied to the blocks of the vessel since the production type in Turkish Shipyards is block
production. Here, this study attempts to develop an approach for other types of vessels in order to determine the critical
path and calculate the total project period. The approach in this study contributes to other similar studies in the
shipbuilding industry in respect to the shipbuilding practices of the shipyards.

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